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CIDE DICTIONARY
OXFORD DICTIONARY
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motley
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun motley has 3 senses
- motley(n = noun.group) assortment, miscellanea, miscellany, mixed bag, mixture, potpourri, salmagundi, smorgasbord, variety - a collection containing a variety of sorts of things; "a great assortment of cars was on display"; "he had a variety of disorders"; "a veritable smorgasbord of religions" is a kind of accumulation, aggregation, assemblage, collection
- motley(n = noun.artifact) Array - a garment made of motley (especially a court jester's costume); Array is a kind of garment
- motley(n = noun.artifact) Array - a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England; Array is a kind of cloth, fabric, material, textile
has particulars: grab bag, witch's brew, witches' brew, witches' broth, range, selection, farrago, gallimaufry, hodgepodge, hotchpotch, melange, mingle-mangle, mishmash, oddments, odds and ends, omnium-gatherum, ragbag, alphabet soup, sampler
Derived forms verb motley1, adjective motley1
Derived form adjective motley2
Derived forms verb motley2, adjective motley2
Verb motley has 2 senses
- motley(v = verb.change) variegate, vary - make something more diverse and varied; "Vary the menu" is one way to diversify
- motley(v = verb.change) parti-color - make motley; color with different colors; Array is one way to color, color in, colorise, colorize, colour, colour in, colourise, colourize
Derived form noun motley1
Sample sentence:
Somebody ----s something
Derived form noun motley3
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Adjective motley has 2 senses
- motley(s = adj.all) assorted, miscellaneous, mixed, sundry - consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds; "an arrangement of assorted spring flowers"; "assorted sizes"; "miscellaneous accessories"; "a mixed program of baroque and contemporary music"; "a motley crew"; "sundry sciences commonly known as social" Derived form noun motley1
- motley(s = adj.all) calico, multi-color, multi-colored, multi-colour, multi-coloured, multicolor, multicolored, multicolour, multicoloured, painted, particolored, particoloured, piebald, pied, varicolored, varicoloured - having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; "a jester dressed in motley"; "the painted desert"; "a particolored dress"; "a piebald horse"; "pied daisies" Derived forms noun motley3, noun motley2
CIDE DICTIONARY
motley, a. [OE. mottelee, motle; cf. OF. mattelé clotted, curdled, OF, ciel mattonné a mottled sky, mate, maton, curdled milk, Prov. G. matte curd. Cf. Mottle.].
- Variegated in color; consisting of different colors; dappled; party-colored; as, a motley coat. [1913 Webster]
- Wearing motley or party-colored clothing. See Motley,
n. , 1. Shak. [1913 Webster] - Composed of different or various parts; heterogeneously made or mixed up; discordantly composite; as, motley style. Byron. [1913 Webster]
motley, n.
- A combination of distinct colors; esp., the party-colored cloth, or clothing, worn by the professional fool. [1913 Webster]
- Hence, a jester, a fool. Shak. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
motley, adj. & n.
--adj. (motlier, motliest)
1 diversified in colour.
2 of varied character (a motley crew).
--n.
1 an incongruous mixture.
2 hist. the particoloured costume of a jester.
--adj. (motlier, motliest)
1 diversified in colour.
2 of varied character (a motley crew).
--n.
1 an incongruous mixture.
2 hist. the particoloured costume of a jester.
Idiom
wear motley play the fool.
Etymology
ME mottelay, perh. ult. rel. to MOTE
THESAURUS
motley
Columbine, Hanswurst, Harlequin, Pantalone, Pantaloon, Polichinelle, Pulcinella, Punch, Punchinello, Scaramouch, amalgamated, ambiguous, ambivalent, amphibious, assorted, assortment, at odds, at variance, ballet skirt, band, bar, bespangle, bespeckle, bespot, bicolor, bicolored, bladder, blended, blotch, buffo, buffoon, buskin, calico, cap and bells, capricious, changeable, changing, check, checker, choppy, chromatic, clouded, clown, cold, colluvies, colorful, colorific, coloring, colory, combined, complex, composite, compound, compounded, conglomerate, contrary, contrasted, contrasting, cool, costume, coxcomb, crazy, daedal, dapple, dappled, departing, deviating, deviative, deviatory, dichromatic, different, differentiated, differing, disaccordant, disagreeing, discolor, discordant, discrepant, discrete, discriminated, disguise, disjoined, disorderly, disparate, dissimilar, dissonant, distinct, distinguished, divaricate, divergent, diverging, divers, divers-colored, diverse, diversified, diversiform, dot, eclectic, equivocal, erose, erratic, fifty-fifty, flake, fleck, fool, freckle, gallimaufry, getup, glowing, half-and-half, harlequin, harmonious, heterogeneous, hodgepodge, idiot, impulsive, in disagreement, inaccordant, incompatible, incongruous, inconsistent, inconsonant, inconstant, indiscriminate, inharmonious, intricate, iris, ironic, irreconcilable, irregular, jack-pudding, jagged, jerky, jester, jumble, jumbled, kaleidoscopic, maculate, many, many-colored, many-sided, marble, marbled, marbleize, masquerade, matching, medley, mercurial, merry-andrew, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed, monochromatic, monochrome, monochromic, motley fool, mottle, mottled, multicolor, multicolored, multicolorous, multifaceted, multifarious, multihued, multinational, multiracial, mutable, nonconformist, nonstandard, nonuniform, omnium-gatherum, outfit, parti-color, parti-colored, pastiche, patchy, pepper, pepper-and-salt, pickle-herring, piebald, pied, pigmentary, pinto, pluralistic, poles apart, poles asunder, polychromatic, polychrome, polychromic, polychromize, prismal, prismatic, promiscuous, ragged, rainbow, rig, rough, salad, scrambled, separate, separated, several, shot, shot through, skewbald, slapstick, sock, spangle, spasmodic, speck, speckle, spectral, splotch, sporadic, spot, sprinkle, stigmatize, stipple, streak, striate, stripe, stud, syncretic, tattoo, tessellate, thrown together, thunder and lightning, tights, tinctorial, tingent, toning, trichromatic, trichromic, tricolor, tricolored, tutu, two-tone, unconformable, uncongenial, unequable, unequal, uneven, unlike, unorthodox, unstable, unsteady, unsystematic, ununiform, variable, variant, varicolored, varied, variegate, variegated, variform, various, varying, vein, versicolor, versicolored, warm, wavering, widely apart, worlds apart, zanyROGET THESAURUS
motley
Mixture
N mixture, admixture, commixture, commixtion, commixion, intermixture, alloyage, matrimony, junction, combination, miscegenation, impregnation, infusion, diffusion suffusion, transfusion, infiltration, seasoning, sprinkling, interlarding, interpolation, adulteration, sophistication, tinge, tincture, touch, dash, smack, sprinkling, spice, seasoning, infusion, soupcon, alloy, amalgam, brass, chowchow, pewter, magma, half-and-half, melange, tertium quid, miscellany, ambigu, medley, mess, hotchpot, pasticcio, patchwork, odds and ends, all sorts, jumble, salad, sauce, mash, omnium gatherum, gallimaufry, olla-podrida, olio, salmagundi, potpourri, Noah's ark, caldron texture, mingled yarn, mosaic, half-blood, half-caste, mulatto, terceron, quarteron, quinteron, quadroon, octoroon, griffo, zambo, cafuzo, Eurasian, fustee, fustie, griffe, ladino, marabou, mestee, mestizo, quintroon, sacatra zebrule, catalo, cross, hybrid, mongrel, mixed, implex, composite, half-and-half, linsey-woolsey, chowchow, hybrid, mongrel, heterogeneous, motley, miscellaneous, promiscuous, indiscriminate, miscible, among, amongst, amid, amidst, with, in the midst of, in the crowd.Multiformity
N multiformity, omniformity, variety, diversity, multifariousness, varied assortment, dissimilarity, polymorphous, multiform, multifold, multifarious, multigenerous, multiplex, heterogeneous, diversified, dissimilar, various, varied, variform, manifold, many-sided, variegated, motley, mosaic, epicene, indiscriminate, desultory, irregular, mixed, different, assorted, mingled, odd, diverse, divers, all manner of, of every description, of all sorts and kinds, et hoc genus omne, and what not? de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis, jumbled, confused, mixed up, discordant, inharmonious, unmatched, unrelated, nonuniform, omniform, omnigenous, omnifarious, protean (form), harmoniously confused, variety's the very spice of life.Variegation
N variegation, colors, dichroism, trichroism, iridescence, play of colors, polychrome, maculation, spottiness, striae, spectrum, rainbow, iris, tulip, peacock, chameleon, butterfly, tortoise shell, mackerel, mackerel sky, zebra, leopard, cheetah, nacre, ocelot, ophite, mother-of-pearl, opal, marble, check, plaid, tartan, patchwork, marquetry-, parquetry, mosaic, tesserae, strigae, chessboard, checkers, chequers, harlequin, Joseph's coat, tricolor, variegated, many-colored, many-hued, divers-colored, party- colored, dichromatic, polychromatic, bicolor, tricolor, versicolor, of all the colors of the rainbow, of all manner of colors, kaleidoscopic, iridescent, opaline, opalescent, prismatic, nacreous, pearly, shot, gorge de pigeon, chatoyant, irisated, pavonine, pied, piebald, motley, mottled, marbled, pepper and salt, paned, dappled, clouded, cymophanous, mosaic, tesselated, plaid, tortoise shell, spotted, spotty, punctated, powdered, speckled, freckled, flea-bitten, studded, flecked, fleckered, striated, barred, veined, brinded, brindled, tabby, watered, grizzled, listed, embroidered, daedal, naevose, stipiform, strigose, striolate, (iii) PERCEPTIONS OF LIGHT.
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